"Based on its ideological principles and defense doctrine, Iran has never sought and will never seek to develop nuclear weapons,” Pezeshkian said in a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

The Russian president, in turn, reiterated Moscow’s stance on Iran’s absolute right to enrich uranium and expressed hope that the negotiations on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 will lead to positive outcomes.

The two presidents discussed other issues of mutual interest during their phone conversation.

Pezeshkian expressed hope that the agreements reached between Putin and US President Donald Trump during a high-profile and high-stakes summit in Anchorage, Alaska, in mid-August would lead to the swift settlement of the crisis in Ukraine.

The Iranian president noted that he is personally pursuing the acceleration of the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway line, part of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), and other agreements between the two countries.

"In addition to its bilateral interaction with Russia, Iran considers regional and international organizations such as the Eurasian [Economic] Union, the Shanghai [Cooperation] Organization, and BRICS as appropriate grounds for cooperation with member countries, especially Russia and China, to effectively counter unilateralism,” Pezeshkian said.

He noted that during his recent visit to Yerevan, the Armenian prime minister assured that the country’s recent agreements with Azerbaijan and the United States have completely taken into account the considerations of Iran and Russia.

The Iranian president was referring to a US-brokered peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan on August 8, under which a transport corridor linking Azerbaijan to its landlocked exclave Nakhchivan is to be established.

Under the deal, Armenia granted exclusive rights to the United States to develop the corridor in its southern province of Syunik, which borders Iran, to connect Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan.

Iran has long opposed the idea, saying it would change the geopolitical order of the Southern Caucasus and would restrict Iran’s ability to use transport networks in the region.

“I believe that the 3+3 cooperation format with the participation of Iran and Russia will be a more effective and efficient mechanism for resolving issues in the Caucasus region,” Pezeshkian said.

During the phone call, Putin informed his Iranian counterpart of the key outcomes of the Russia-US summit held in Alaska.

If the agreements reached in Alaska are fully implemented, the issue of Ukraine will be settled, the Russian president said.

He said the discussions at the Alaska summit were entirely focused on Ukraine.

The Russian president further pointed to Moscow’s constructive and steadily advancing relations with Tehran and noted that bilateral trade exchanges showed an 11 percent increase in the first half of the current year.

Putin also commended advancing cooperation between the two countries in other areas, including the construction of the strategic Rasht–Astara railway.

He said bilateral cooperation on the development of the Bushehr nuclear power plant was proceeding satisfactorily.